chris_b

My first 5 string bass was an SR5. It was a good start into the world of B strings, but I found the sound less flexible than I wanted and the one peice maple neck didn't feel as good to me as a rolled edge fretboard. I replaced it with a Lakland, which is a much better playing and sounding instrument in my opinion.

My best sounding bass is passive and my active bass currently has a problem with the pre amp, so I'd suggest a good set of passive pickups is the way forward.

The Jazz neck pickup is in a different position to the Pbass pickup, so sonically there will be differences and it may not sound the same as a Pbass.

I've seen 2 gigs this weekend and both players sounded great through their Barefaced cabs, Big Baby 2 (Mudpup) and Super Compact (Merton). Thanks guys for 2 interesting, eye opening and thought provoking, evenings.

The song I've always wanted to play is the encore to our set on the main stage on Saturday night at Glastonbury. When I awake up, it'll be anything by Little Feat, apart from Willing. Already played that one.

There a 2 Aguilar GS112 cabs in the For Sale section. I used 2 of these with my SVT3 PRO and they sounded great.

It's on the recorder. I'll be watching it on Monday. I must have seen BB King at least 20 times throughout the 80's and 90's. Russell Jackson was a huge influence and the first person I saw with Bartolini pickups on his Pbass. I immediately ordered a set, which fixed the hole in my tone, and my sound has never looked back.

My 1968 CBS Precision wasn't a good one, but who knew at the time? I didn't. It sounded better than the competition so any problems wouldn't emerge until later when cabs came along which let you actually hear the instrument. My bass only started to sound 2nd class when it was going up against basses in the 90's. I changed the pickups and it started to hold it’s own again. Even then Pre CBS basses were generally rated as being better (even though some of them weren’t) but everyone happily played those dreaded 70's and 80’s basses and loved them. So either the "issues" weren't that noticeable or, the real truth of the matter, weren’t actually much of a problem at all. The differences would mostly only have been noticed in the studio anyway. Bass cabs were so woolly that not many people would have noticed the precise tone of the bass on a gig. Beyond a preference for Fender, most players I ran into didn’t care what the bass player sounded like. It was what you played, how you played it and what kind of a person you were that mattered most and got you the gig.

Not sure this counts as a blind spot! If anyone wanted to play without frets in the early days I imagine they'd prefer to get their double basses out.

+1 [i]Never[/i] "fiddle" waiting for the show to start and [i]never[/i] play any part of the next song if yoiu're getting your pedals set up.

[quote name='EssentialTension' timestamp='1392916965' post='2374184'] ....So we had rather different experiences of the 1970s.... [/quote] +1 I couldn't afford a Pre CBS Precsion in the late 60's. If you were lucky enough to find one, they far outstripped the price of the new one I had to buy. What we were offered for part exchange in shops back then was tantamount to daylight robbery. The back pages of Melody Maker was the best place to sell gear.

[quote name='BetaFunk' timestamp='1392907553' post='2374030'] ....In the 70s no one cared less about a bass made in 1960 and most musicians if they could afford it would have bought a brand new shiny 1970s one. All those vintage basses and guitars were left for the poorer musicians and the roadworn ones were placed at the back of the shop or refinished so they could sell them. Where did this mania of 'old is gold' come from?.... [/quote] Not true. By the end of the 60's the term Pre CBS was in common use to denote a bass of better quality and tone than was available from CBS Fenders. Those basses were very sought after and were unlikely to end up in the hands of "poor" musicians".

Vintage basses are like cars. Every now and then you find an ERA, SS100 or AC Cobra, but most are Bubble cars.

You can't EQ a ported cab to sound like a non-ported cab.

I have a lot of sympathy for backing musicians.... even though they are just that and will always be dumped by managemnt when the money starts to roll in. If that is a problem don't back a singer, join a band. Bass lines are just "arrangement" and won't get a writing cedit, no matter how creative you think they are.

[quote name='Cameronj279' timestamp='1392833892' post='2373294'] ....I'm in 2 minds about it because I haven't ever played a bass as nice as the Warwick but also feel like I haven't got my ideal tone with it.... [/quote] If you like it but don't play it, sell it. If you love it but don't play it, sell it. Just remember, everyone needs a backup bass. So you can keep it. ....and, fanned frets are easy to play.

2 gigs a monthy is a full diary? There are a couple of bands I left and shouldn't have. I'd happily go and see them but I wouldn't waste my time on the rest. +1 to never looking back.

[quote name='Torben Hedstrøm' timestamp='1392819561' post='2373062'] ...I mean, as I read from the Barefaced website, they are not making any actual groundbreaking discoveries.... [/quote] You don't have to invent anything in order to improve the bass cab market (although Alex's new driver seems to be pretty unique). As bass players we seem to have been happy employing less than optimal sound quality for decades. Barefaced and others are, at last, applying good audio design to the manufacture of their cabs. In comparison to many "high volume" manufacturers that really is the part that is ground breaking.

The Jazz bass was apparently designed for guitarists but the Precision? I think the Precision was pitched at upright bass players. When the Precision was released Fender was producing instruments for the Hillbilly and Folk and Hawaiian bands that were popular at the time. The Precision was needed so that bass players in bands could be heard above the steel guitars etc who were amplified by then. If your upright bass was louder and the notes could actually be heard (which they mostly weren't before) you would need to be in tune. A concept that some (many?) upright bass players back then might struggle with.

According to Bill Fitzmaurice (a BC member) there are some "high volume" cab makers who don't have an R&D department at all. They just hire in a designer, like him, who does the lot, not based on anything technical but on price. It would be hard for someone like Alex/Barefaced to not design something better.

A compromise is not always negative, ie cutting corners, but can be positive, ieabout choice. The choices a manufacturer makes will be obvious if you know the science. Cabs in previous decades were just boxes of speakers. The good ones today are tuned to the specs of better designed drivers which produce more volume and better quality tone out of (sometimes) smaller speakers. Your choice should be based on the tone you want. That's difficult to do at a distance so I'd start by looking at what your favourite bass players use. My recommendations for a big, clean, full toned cab would be Bergantino, Barefaced and Aguilar.

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1392739603' post='2372177'] ....We have had discussions with venues about paying a continued set as it helps us plan the show better but they want a break to maximise beer sales .... [/quote] I suggested this 30 years ago and several times since, but I've always been told to forget it! Unless you're playing at the O2, the reality is that anyone putting on a band usually has higher priorities than the music.

You'll get fluent in reading music by reading music. The more you read the better you will be, so start with simple stuff and move on in stages when you've mastered the level you're on.

I gave up playing for quite a few years. I sold my amps and cabs but it never ocurred to me to sell my Pbass.

[quote name='Torben Hedstrøm' timestamp='1392714675' post='2371802'] ....I am playing in a prog rock band, which requires alot of bottom end, and so far nothing short of a good 15" has been able to cope.... [/quote] I get more lows and low mids out of 2 Bergantino 112's (and now a Berg 212) than I've ever heard out of a 15". If you want "bottom end", I don't see the 10" adding much to your sound. I'd go for multiple 12's every time.